


Three A.M. Is The Hour Of Lovers

by CoffeesForFuckers



Category: New Girl
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkward Romance, College AU, Cute, Cute Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual kissing, F/M, Feelings, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Happy, Happy Ending, Kissing, Meet-Cute, Ness - Freeform, New Girl - Freeform, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Friendship, Romantic Soulmates, Slow Romance, Soulmates, Sweet, They won't admit their feelings, hand holding, playing with hair, romantic, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-02
Packaged: 2019-02-09 11:53:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12887304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeesForFuckers/pseuds/CoffeesForFuckers
Summary: Falling in love doesn't always take time.Falling in love is messy.Falling in love is fast.Falling in love is crazy.Falling in love is beautiful.Falling in love...Falling in love...





	Three A.M. Is The Hour Of Lovers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [newgirlystuff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/newgirlystuff/gifts), [cecilia095](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cecilia095/gifts).
  * Inspired by [I Used To Know You When We Were Young (You Were In All My Dreams)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6104365) by [cecilia095](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cecilia095/pseuds/cecilia095). 



> This was supposed to be short and up 4 days ago but here we are, nearly 10,000 words and 96 hours later.  
> Fall in love with Jess and Nick.

Sophomore year of college and I had only one friend still. My whole life was just… Cece and me. Even now, she’s in the same dorm room as me.

My whole life was just Cece and me, until there was a knock on my dorm room door at the our of lovers. Three AM.

“Hey, um… My friend thinks your friend is hot and told me to come ask ya’ if we could borrow your car so we could head over to Lollapalooza for the week.” A man with cognac brown eyes and hair to match is stood in my door. A slight scruff around his mouth. I’d seen him around once or twice. 

“So, let me get this straight…  _ You  _ want to take  _ my  _ car,  _ god knows where _ , to a thing called  _ Lollapalooza  _ and the  _ best  _ part is it’s  _ three  _ in the  _ goddamn morning _ and I’ve  _ never  _ talked to you before in my  _ entire life _ .” I offer and the guy makes a face, it kind of reminds me of a turtle.

“Yep. Got it.” He nods, “I’m Nick Miller, by the way.” He sticks his hand out to me and I think for way too long about taking it.

“I’m-”

“Jessica Day, I know.” He nods, “My friend has a thing for yours and stalked your Twitters and Instagrams.” He mutters awkwardly, “Sorry, that was weird, but about the car…?”

“No way am I letting strangers take my car.” I cross my arms, “I’ll drive you if you really want to go to that thing, though.” I hate being so nice.

“Wait, what? Ya’ don’t even know what it is, nor do ya’ know  _ where  _ it is.” Nick’s forehead crinkles as he looks at me, “I will return your car in one piece Jessica. Schmidt, Winston and I are great drivers.”

“But it’s  _ my  _ car, Nick.” I argue, “And you can show me what that shit is and where and I will drive you.”

“Jess! What the hell are you-... Who is that?” She leans over me, resting her chin on my shoulder as I was blocking the doorway.

“Nick Miller, he says and he wants to borrow my car.” I mutter, “Your friends don’t have a car?” I turn back to him.

“No, they do not. Please let us borrow it.” He now begs me.

“I will  _ drive  _ you or you can leave.” I cross my arms, “That’s final.”

“Fine, but my friends can be abrasive.”

“Now, please explain Lollapalooza and where that is exactly.” 

|||

“Okay, so it’s in Grant Park, Chicago.” Nick tells me, he’s sitting on the end of my bed and I’m across from him.

“Alright.” I nod, “That’s easy to remember, now tell me what it is.”

“It’s a music festival for more main-stream alternative stuff.” Nick shrugs, “It’s hard to explain.”

“The lineup?”

“This year they have…” He squints at his phone as he reads off the list, “Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Fall Out Boy, Halsey, Twenty-One Pilots, J. Cole, Lana Del Rey, G-Eazy, Bloc Party, Mutemath, Future, Muse, Weezer, Foo Fighters, Mumford and Sons, The XX, Two Door Cinema Club, Wanda, Betsy, Marshmello, Chance The Rapper, The Killers, Arcade Fire, Elton John, GroupLove, Charli XCX, DJ Snake, Alt-J, Moose Blood, The Shins, Jon Bellion, Cheat Codes, Tove Lo, The Pretty Reckless, Slushii, Imagine Dragons, JetLag, Pearl Jam, Wiz Khalifa, Lorde, Vinyl Theater and Blink-182.” He rambles and I know some of them. I probably would not be attending and nor would Cece, who insisted on coming with, “There are way more but those are just the ones they’re advertising on the poster.”

“Oh, wow.” I mumble, “You know what! The hell with it! Let’s go!” I cheer, “I never do anything spontaneous, let’s do this!” 

“Hell yeah!” He cheers with me. He isn’t that bad.

“When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow, roughly twelve.” He grins at me and bites his lip a little.

“Alright, you should go tell your friends so they’ll be ready for tomorrow and you should definitely start packing. Meet by the split in the path by the girls and boys dorms by eleven-thirty.”

“Deal. See ya’ tomorrow, Jessica.”

“See ya’ Nick.” I wave as he steps from my room. 

Oh wow, he is very different.

A good different though.

|||

“Jess, why did you agree to this?” Cece huffs, her hair is a complete mess and she’s struggling with her two bags.

“You are so lucky that I have a Rambler.” It was the car my dad had leant me while he got my Volvo repaired. If I had my Volvo I doubt we could’ve fit both bags and she would’ve had to sacrifice.

“Jessica!” I hear and turn to find Nick mildly jogging, kind of looking like he was to collapse at any second.

“Nick, hey!” I wave.

“Why are you running, Nick? You don’t run!” One of his friends with overly styled hair and skin paler than snow, teases.

Nick bends over, heaving for air as soon as he reaches us, “You-... Ya’ ready for… For the best damn week of your… Life?” He drops his huge bag to the ground and sits on it.

“You gonna make it there, soldier?” I pat his back as if I’d known him more than just a few hours.

“Yeah, I just… Man, I’m out of shape.” He groans causing me to giggle softly.

“Oh my god, Nick.” The pale one grabs onto Nick’s arm and pulls him off to the side a bit, muttering something to him in a flustered manner.

“What’s with that one?” Cece hums to me and I just shrug.

“Don’t even know what that one’s name is?” I speak.

“Hello ladies.” A black guy with what looks like a penciled in mustache steps up to us, “I’m Winston.” He sticks his hand out towards myself.

I take it and chuckle, “I’m Jess and that’s Cece, don’t mind her, she’s hostile from her hangover.” I warn.

“Alright! So, I’m assuming you’re Nick’s girl?” He winks and nudges my side.

“Um…? Where’d you hear that?” My brow furrows.

“I assumed.” He says.

“I met Nick at three in the morning today, begging me for a ride to this music festival.”

“Wait, you’ve never-...?” He gives me a confused glance, “I just thought you knew him. This is pretty unusual for Nick, he normally plans everything and doesn’t just dive right in like this?” Winston tells, “You must be really cool, Jessica.”

“Thanks, Winston. You too.” I nod.

“We should get going! We’re burning daylight!” Nick bounds over and I grin at him.

“Alright! Let’s get moving!” 

||| 

Nick helps me pack everybody’s stuff into the back of the car. He really was a good guy. I also admit that he was mildly attractive.

“Also, I should tell you. Ignore the obnoxious Jewish guy with the dirty mouth.” He warns me, “That’s just Schmidt and he thinks your friend is really hot.”

“Well, her friend is  _ gorgeous _ , like an amazonian princess.  _ She’s  _ hot.” Schmidt nods towards me at the end as he leans against the car.

“Oh, wow… Okay, thanks.” I nod, feeling horribly awkward.

“God, Schmidt! What did I tell you about the comments!?” Nick punches him in the arm.

“It was… Sweet?” I offer.

“Don’t encourage him, please.” Nick shakes his head at me.

“Well, I just came to inform you, I’m not driving first and I’m sitting in the back.” Schmidt is so stuck up that I instantly hate him. But there is a slight charm to him. Maybe I’d get used to it.

“Who cares dude? Who asked?” Nick is so frustrated it’s kind of funny, he’s using his hand to convey his emotions of how much Schmidt was pissing him off. I stifle a laugh in my palm and Nick glances back towards me. He smiles genuinely at me, “What’s so funny?”

“You are.” I giggle and Schmidt makes a face that says  _ ‘ooh’  _ before he hops in the back of my 1955 Hudson Rambler.

“Ignore him, like I said.” He rolls his eyes with a smirk on his lips. He reaches up and slams the trunk down to make sure it closes.

I make my way to walk past him to the drivers side but he catches my hand with the keys in it, “I’ll drive.” He offers, “We’ll take turns and I can start.”

“Oh. Yeah, okay.” I let go of the keys in my hand and they fall into his.

Our touch lingers for a moment before I brush past him to get to the passenger side.

|||

“He’s touching my thigh!” Cece whines from the back.

“Schmidt, leave the pretty lady alone!” Nick groans. They were basically like children and Nick and I had to play mom and dad here.

“Cece, stop bitching.” I roll my eyes, “I’m sorry about them.” I apologize to Nick.

“Nah, it’s fun!” He glances over at me and I chuckle and give a puckered smile.

“You know, it kinda is.” I agree with him and he gives me another glance with a big grin.

I reach forward after a few moments of silence, well, other than Schmidt and Cece’s partial bickering and half flirting session, and I turn on the radio. The first thing that comes from the speakers is my Fall Out Boy CD.

“Ah-Ha! You do listen to this music!” Nick cheers.

“I only agreed because I heard Fall Out Boy.” I suppress a smile and Nick pokes me in the ribs.

“Well, I know you’ll like other bands there too.” His hand goes back to the wheel. This was going to be more fun than I expected. 

For some reason, this just felt right. It felt kind of like fate.

|||

After about six hours Schmidt finally gets Nick to pull over so he can pee. Cece also goes into the women’s room. Winston has been asleep for about an hour so it was just Nick and I walking around the convenience store.

“Do you want anything?” He asks as he grabs three different bags of chips off the shelves. 

“Um, I can pay for my own, it will be a bit pricey.” I chuckle as I grab a few bags of random foods and candies from the shelves.

“Nah, you let us use your car to get to this stupid festival, I’ll pay.” He insists and I attempt to argue but it’s shut down quickly.

All together, Nick and I spent forty-seven dollars. We decided they were for us only because we were the drivers and nobody else was helping. They could buy their own.

We’re back in the car before the others, dropping the bags of stuff on the floor between us. I kick my shoes off and curl my legs up beneath me, reaching into one of the bags and pulling out the Swedish Fish and opening it. 

“Ooh, yes please.” He sticks a hand out towards me. I take one and bite it in half, placing the other half in his hand, “How generous.” He chuckles and places it in his mouth.

“You are welcome, Nick Miller.”

“Jessica Day.” He replies and I give him a fond smile.

“Hey, we’re back.” Schmidt slides in, followed by Cece.

“You guys took forever.” Nick groans, “Please don’t be getting pregnant, Cece. Schmidt will be a horrible dad.” 

“Hey!” Schmidt yells, “I will be amazing! I’m  _ always  _ amazing!”

I can’t help but roll my eyes. Cece is obviously into him and I really don’t get it at all. He’s obnoxious and I kind of want to hit him.

“Alright, no more stops until we reach the hotel for the night!” Nick announces and goes to start the engine.

I reach over to him and grab his hand before he can, “I can drive if you want.” I tell him, “You’ve been driving all day.”

“I-... I’m fine, thanks, Jess.” He nods and I let my hand linger for a second. I tell myself that it’s because I want to make sure that he doesn’t change his mind.

“You called me Jess.” I notice.

“Oh! Do you not want me to call you that? I’m-”

“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind.” I shake my head and finally pull my hand back as I realize it’s still there and my face flushes.

“Ooh.” I hear Cece coo from the back.

“Shut it you.” I glare.

I notice the light pink hue on Nick’s cheeks as he pulls out of the parking lot.

|||

I must have dozed off, we were in the middle of nowhere on some old dirt road. I sit up and look around slightly. It takes a second before it clicks where I am. 

My gaze lands on Nick who's driving still and looks wiped out. I reach out and brush a hand to his leg, “Hey, Nick.” I slur a little, sleep coated in my voice.

“Jess!” He gasps and sits up a bit straighter, “Man, you scared me. I didn’t know you were awake.” He looks over at me, “Sleep well?”

“Fantastic.” A yawn escapes my lips, “Want me to drive a little while you get some rest?” I ask and stretch my arms up over my head, letting out a moan.

“Nah, we’re almost at the hotel. Now that you’re awake it is officially your job to make sure I don’t fall asleep.” He nudges me with his elbow.

I laugh at him silently and kick my legs up on the dash, “Are you sure? I  _ can  _ drive, you know?” 

“Yeah, we’re good here.” He says, “I like to drive, give me the opportunity to procrastinate my writing.”

“Your writing?” I look over at him. A wave of yellow and orange light stream over him from the streetlamps. The light looks so nice on him, his skin slightly shaded and he has a slight glow haloed around him. The scruff around his mouth really stood out.

“I dabble.” He shrugs, “It’s nothing good.” A sad-sounding laugh passes his pinkened lips.

“Tell me some of your ideas. I’m an english major and I want to be a teacher so I could probably help you a little.” I give him a genuine smile, “If you want, that is.”

“It’s just a zombie-romance novel.” I notice him shrug.

“Zombie-on-zombie or what?”

“Human-slash-zombie.” He chuckles, “That sounds awful out loud.”

“If you write it well enough then it will be amazing.” I pat his knee, “I’ll even help you edit it.”

“I’m going to hold you to that, Jessica Day.” He points a finger at me, “I won’t let you forget it.”

I start to chuckle and smack his finger away, “You don’t have to remind me because how could I forget.”

|||

Cece’s face was pushed into my chest and Schmidt was to her left, holding her. We could only afford one room and this room only had one bed.

Nick was next to me, keeping to himself and Winston was to his left, cuddled up to him like a clingy girlfriend.

“Jess.” I hear my name whispered and my head falls in the direction of the voice. Nick’s already looking over at me, “Thank god, you’re awake.” He smiles as soon as he sees I’m not sleeping.

“What’s up?” I whisper back at him.

“I can’t sleep and I can feel Winston’s…  _ Winston  _ on my leg.” He mumbles to me and I cover my mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

“Well, I have my best friend biting my right breast right now so I can’t really help.” I apologize and I feel his fingers brush mine beneath the sheets. I swallow dryly.

“This is still really nice, in a weird way.” Nick says with a blush.

“I think so too, Nick.” I take a leap and grasp his hand in mine.

“What are you-...?” His eyes spring wide.

“If everybody else is getting handsy, we should too, right?” I smile as my eyes droop, “You should sleep, Nick.”

“I don’t know if I can.”

“Do you want me to let go?” I loosen my fingers.

“No.” He speaks firmly, “It’s nice and your hands are cold. It’s hard to sleep with cold hands.”

“You’re right.” I nod and give his hand a squeeze, “What’s the real reason though, Nick?”

“I-... What do you mean?” He seems taken aback.

“I know that there’s another reason for you wanting to hold my hand, Nick.” I accuse.

“You’re the one who grabbed  _ my  _ hand.” He gasps.

“I know but you want me to.”

“I’m honestly petrified.” Nick admits to me, “I don’t do this kind of stuff. I plan and don’t leap unless I know what will be at the end.” He rambles, “But when you grabbed my hand it made me feel like I was safe, I guess. I don’t know, it’s stupid.” He shrugs.

“You know, if anybody else said that to me I would think this is their way of getting in my pants, but for some reason, I really believe you, Nick Miller.” I smile honestly at him.

“Thank you… Jess.” His eyes close, “And thanks for coming along.”

“Thanks for asking to borrow my car.”

I let myself sleep now with my hand holding Nick’s.

|||

“Can we please stop for breakfast?” Winston whines from the back.

“Where the hell do you expect me to stop, Winston!? We are in the  _ middle  _ of  _ nowhere _ !” Nick yells but I realized that he did that a lot. It wasn’t scary like I expected it to be, it’s more like he’s being loud for no reason than anything.

“I don’t know!? Maybe you should find the highway, Nick!” Winston continues bitching so I throw a package of Sour Patch Kids at him.

The three in the back start to fight over it and I simply turn up the music. The outside looked so nice and the rising sunlight looked good on Nick too.

I admit that he was very attractive.

I can't help but to laugh as I think of the way that him and I slept. I felt comfortable with him for some reason. He just had a gentle face. He thought he was much tougher than he actually was. 

I run a finger through my messy hair that I neglected to groom before. They insisted there was no time for me to get ready so I was still dressed in some cloud pajamas. I brushed my teeth and that was about it. We haven't even eaten yet.

“Are you hungry?” Nick asks me softly.

“Well, yeah.” I chuckle, “Of course I am.”

“Find somewhere near here for breakfast.” He tells me, “I don't care if it's a 7/11, just as long as I get some real food in me.”

I titter to myself, “Okay, will do.” I type into Google the nearest restaurant and one five miles from us comes up. It's the only place for goddamn miles, "Hey, look." I show my phone to Nick.

"Get me some directions and I'll have you there in no time." Nick gives me a glance and I tap my hand against his thigh.

Something in his eyes makes me smile. 

I get directions, which aren't hard to follow as it's just a straight road.

"There she is!" Cheers Schmidt and I roll my eyes at him. If it were anybody else I probably would have laughed.

"Okay guys and gals, this is our possible last stop before we hit a McDonald's for lunch so fill up now. Jess and I will not share our snack foods with any of you." Nick says as we all rush from the car, "And, no, Schmidt, we will not stop for your child blatter." 

"What the hell! I'll just piss in the car then." He crosses his arms like a stubborn five-year-old. 

"Jess will kick your ass if you do." Nick replies nonchalantly without even glancing back at Schmidt.

“I will.” I agree.

“Yeah, right.” Grumbles Schmidt as we enter the tiny, family-style restaurant. 

“Hello! Welcome!” An older woman cheers as she spots us coming in and places the newspaper down to serve us.

All five members of our group sit on the stools at the counters. We tell her that we've never been around here before and she gets us menus. She makes pleasant conversation with us while we decide.

I go with an omelette, Nick gets eggs,bacon, toast and a coffee, Schmidt gets the same as Nick, Winston gets waffles and Cece gets blueberry pancakes. 

We all eat quietly, making small talk here and there. Everybody is so tired and not ready for another twenty-something hours in a car, but before we even notice, we're back in the car and this time I'm driving.

|||

Nick had laid down on the seat, his head pressed against my thigh as he tried to sleep. I was also horribly tired too. 

Nick tossed and turned, shifted and twisted in the seat to find some type of comfort but nothing was working.

He sat up after a while and groaned, his hair mussed, “Hey sleepy-head.” I say to him.

Nick gives me a tired grin and yawns, “We need to find a hotel or something for the night.” 

“I can drive, you and Jess can move back here.” Cece wiggled her eyebrows and I shoot her a glare through the rearview mirror, “I'll even let Schmidt join me up front so you two can fit comfortably.”

“I don't need sleep.” I clench my hands tighter around the wheel. 

“You can barely stay awake, Jess.” Argues Nick.

“I'm fine.” I shake my head.

“Jess.” Nick is staring.

“I'm fine, Nick!” I press but he doesn't believe it. 

“Pull over and rest, Jess. This is dangerous, not only for you.” He scowls at me and my stubbornness.

“Shut up, Nick. I’m not a child.” I grumble, knuckles white.

“You obviously are by the way you’re acting.” Nick challenges and I pull over. I’m actually ready to hit him.

“Fuck you, Nick.” I snap as I throw the car in park and get out. I pace a bit to calm down. 

“Hey, hey.” Nick grabs my shoulders, “I’m sorry. I was just worried that you were going to get hurt because you’re so stubborn.” He frowns, “I’m sorry I was being a jackass, I was just trying to get you to pull over.” A sigh and he runs his hands down my arms, his fingers brushing my hands for only a moment, “I’m really sorry, Jess.”

I stare at him for a second, swallowing hard, “Yeah, it’s fine. I just am freaked out I guess.” I shrug. I honestly just hated that Cece was trying to push me together with Nick and Schmidt was pushing him.

I don’t know him. I’m not like this.

“If this is too much we can go back. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” He offers and I shake my head.

“It’s okay, I’m just stressed a bit.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Asks Nick and I just shake my head again. I didn’t know him well enough to vent like that yet.

“Okay, I’m here to listen if you need me.” He ruffles my hair a bit, “Now, you need rest and so do I, so can we please both sleep and let Cece drive?”

“Fine. I need to get a blanket from the back first.” I say, “You can get in, I’ll be there in a second.”

He nods and makes his way over to the car. I get to the back and pop the trunk, pulling an old quilt from one of my bags and three pillows. I toss it over my shoulder and slam the lid down, making my way into the car. Nick was in the middle and Winston was leaned on the door.

I toss a pillow at Winston and hand one to Nick as well. I place one under my head against the window and watch the ground move as Cece starts to drive. I feel Nick shift away from me, laying on Winston. I chuckle at them, they were such good friends and they reminded me of Cece and I.

Schmidt starts to talk about something and Cece is laughing and replying. She seemed to like him a lot.

I should give him a chance at least then.

|||

My sleepy eyes open when I feel a hand brush my leg accidentally. I groan and shift. It was so unbearably uncomfortable laying like this. I would never get to sleep.

I feel a hand grab mine and I sit up, “You’re still awake?” He asks me.

“Yeah, I just can’t sleep.” I murmur and rub my eyes as they won’t stay open. An arm wraps around me, pulling me into him.

“Is this more comfortable?” He rubs his hand on my side softly. 

I’m so flustered that I can’t even speak for a second. I start to nod before I find my voice, “Yeah, it is… Thanks, Nick.” I rest my head on him and he squeezes me slightly when I do. I relax against him quickly and I feel my eyelids grow heavy. 

He sighs and rests his head against the top of mine and soothingly rubs at my side continuously. I smile gently, gripping his shirt in my balled hands, my fingers twitching lightly with pleasure. Nobody ever made me feel like that, few people ever realized that my back and sides were my weak spots. Touch my lower back and I’ll be weak, I never knew why, it’s always just been so intimate and alluring to me.

Suddenly the thought of Nick with his hand rested on the small of my back comes to mind and I tense for a moment. I barely know him. But he also is so warm and comfortable. 

I fall limp against him and finally my head shuts down.

|||

“Hey, time to wake up sleeping beauty. I’m not Prince Charming so you won’t be getting true love's kiss to wake up.” Nick gives me a gentle shake and I jump.

“What?” I choke on my own saliva.

“Sorry, that was weird.” He pats my shoulder as I cough.

I pant as I try and calm myself down from that, very horrible and yet welcomed comment. If he had kissed me awake I probably would have decked him but I doubt that I would’ve hated it.

“Shit, why are you waking me?” I mumble and rub at my eyes.

“We’re at the diner for dinner.”

“What diner?”

“It’s In-And-Out.” He chuckles, “Cece insisted that you wouldn’t hate this place, so I really hope you don’t.”

I smile tiredly at Nick, “I like it.” A nod, “Let’s go before they think we’re boning.” I give him a nudge and push my door open. Nick hops out of the car after me and closes the door. 

We head in and sit with the rest of the group. 

Dinner was good but Nick’s hand kept brushing mine and his arm kept bumping either my ribs or my breast. He apologized each time but it was bothersome either way. 

“Hey, Jess.” Nick speaks and I glance at him. I had just scolded Schmidt for being a prick for the hundredth time tonight.

“Yeah?”

“You wanna, um… Come to the bathroom with me?” He makes it sound worse than I knew it was going to be.

“Ooh! Girl, you getting some.” Winks Cece in my direction. I huff at her and stand.

“Let’s go.” I grip his bicep, it’s actually really nice. I shake the thought and drag him off, “Next time don’t make it sound so weird.” I sigh at him.

“I’m sorry, I just need to let you know that Schmidt may be a dickhead but I can handle him, I promise. He used to be like,  _ fat _ .  _ Really  _ fat. And nobody ever gave him a second glance until he started looking like, well,  _ that _ .” He nods over to the table.

“Oh.” I frown, “I didn’t know.” I murmur, “He’s just such an ass to people.”

“I know, I’ll put him in his place later. Okay?” He tells me and I nod, “Also, I’m sorry if my accidental touching is bothering you.”

“It’s okay, Nick.” I say and touch his arm, “Thank you.” I grab his shirt sleeve in my fist. The sudden thought of grabbing his other arm and kissing him pops into my head and I jump, letting go of him quickly.

“Are you okay?” He eyes me.

“Fine, yeah, sorry, I just remembered the dream I had and it freaked me out.” I try and lie to him. My flustered manor probably gave away that something else was going on.

“Okay, we should get going now though, Jess. It’s getting later and we need to get to my parents house by the morning.” Nick tells me.

“Yeah, I agree, are you driving or me?” I ask and he chuckles.

“You’ve driven too much, I can go the rest of the way.” He says, “We can stop for like, thirty minutes on the way back to stretch and stuff.”

“Nick, come on.” I beg.

“I’ll sleep all day tomorrow, Jess. Stop worrying.” He gives my arm a small squeeze.

“I’ll only stop worrying if you can manage to make me hate you.” I tap his nose and walk off to the table, “Hurry up and eat, we’re leaving soon so we can make it to Nick’s by morning.”

“Man, I cannot wait to see Mamma Miller!” Schmidt cheers and stretches his arms.

“She has always been an amazing cook.” Winston comments happily as he reaches for his wallet.

“Okay, then you guys need to hurry up.” I grab my purse and fish out some money. I toss a ten on the table and everybody else does the same. It covers both the bill and the tip.

|||

My eyes open. My head is in Nick’s lap, he has a hand in my hair and his other on the steering wheel. I don’t want to move. I’m so comfortable and his palm is so warm and comforting.

His fingers massage the side of my head, playing with my earring and the top of my ear, rubbing my temple every once and awhile. This was the best feeling in the world. I let my eyes stay closed and let him continue doing this. His hands were rough but somehow it still felt so amazing.

“I know you’re awake, Jess.” I hear Nick whisper as he pinches the top of my ear softly. I pretend like I’m not but I feel his fingers detangle from my hair, brushing a few strands from my eyes, “Jess.”

“Hi, Nick.” I smile sheepishly.

“If you want me to play with your hair I still will.” Nick says, “You can sleep if you want.”

“I really appreciate you, Nick.” I squeeze his knee and his hand goes back to my hair.

“I appreciate you too, Jess.” He runs his fingers over my cheek.

“Hey.” I mumble and he lets out a small ‘ _ hmm?’ _ as a ‘ _ yes _ ’. I clear my throat, “I’m sorry if I get weird. I just… I’m stressed when Cece does that stupid shit where she pressures me into dating guys because she picks the worst guys ever and like, guys don’t like me. They use me for her so I’ve been really weird because Cece keeps subtly pushing me to make a move on you and it freaks me out a lot. I’m sorry, Nick.” I turn red out of embarrassment.

“It’s fine, Jess, really.” He chuckles, “Schmidt does the same.”

“I can tell.” 

“I know that telling me that was really weird for you and that’s why I’m going to tell you this.” He takes in a breath.

“You don’t have to.”

“No, I want to… You can’t laugh though.” He pulls my hair gently and I let out a small moan.

“I promise I won’t, Nick.” I reach up and touch his wrist.

“Okay, so, I’m a virgin and I’ve never been in a serious relationship. I’ve kissed a few girls here and there but never anything more than outside-the-shirt boob-grabbing.” His whole face is violently red.

“Nick, that’s not embarrassing. I am too.” I say, “I had one boyfriend for over a year and he was just…” I shrug.

“Shitty.” Nick offers.

“Exactly!”

“My ex, Caroline, she really  _ sucked _ . She abused me for a long time. The only thing I  _ didn’t  _ do when she asked was give her sex. I wouldn’t stoop that low. I did everything else nonetheless.” A huff, “I mean, that’s probably why she fucked every other guy around.”

His fingers squeezed my hair, “I’m so sorry, Nick.” I frown. I feel so bad for him. 

“No.” He shakes his head, “It fucked me up for a little while but I'm better now. I mean, I'm not afraid of you and I couldn't even be in the same room as a girl for a while.” He tells me, “I was actually scared. I was petrified of the abuse.” 

My fingers grasp his shirt desperately, “Nick… I-... I'm so sorry.” 

“No, no.” He shakes his head, “I heard somebody talking about this girl, they said she was super nice and really pretty…” His hand pulls at my hair a little, “And I was really scared and then I saw her and she was sitting on a bench with a little boy. He was crying and seemed genuinely petrified. She reached out and touched his arm and said something to him and he looked up at her, sniveling and rubbing his eyes. She pulled a stuffed animal out of her bag and started telling him a story until his sister came to get him.” 

I feel myself sinking against him. He was so comforting, “And she looked up at me, watching and my eyes widened but she waved nonetheless.” The smile on his face is unhideable, “She was smiling and I knew that not everybody sucked after that. Not all girls are terrifying and abusive.” His fingers trailed through my hair to my neck, rubbing at my skin softly.

“You're right about that.” I rub his leg.

“I know because you proved that some people are extraordinary.” He glances down at me, a blush forming, “I'm sorry, I just thought I should say that.”

“Don't apologize, Nick. You made me realize that I'm not as lame as I thought.” I squeeze at his thigh, “My only friend is Cece and that's how life has always been, and then you knocked on my door at three in the morning. Now, I'm sleeping in your lap.” 

“Not sleeping. Resting.” He corrects.

“Shut up.” I laugh, a yawn overtaking me.

“Go to sleep, we still have a few hours.” He insists.

“But then everybody will be awake.” I mumble, “And talking to you is better than sleeping.” Another yawn.

I see him smile fondly at the words, “Hey, look.” He taps his finger on the dash clock, “The time we met.” 

“Three days.” I say, my voice hoarse from sleep. I realize then that it had  _ only  _ been  _ three days. _ It feels like I've known these idiots for years.

Nick’s hand squeezes the piece of my shoulder that connected to my neck.

“It can't be only three days.” He shakes his head, “This was meant to be.” 

I tense, “Nick, I was literally just thinking that.” 

“Then we must be soulmates.” He jokes and I swallow, “I’m sorry, I know I’m not somebody you would ever date. You’re too pretty.”

A blush spreads over my face, “I-... Nick, you’re great and you’re really attractive.” I tell him truthfully, “You’re right that normally I wouldn’t date you but that’s just because you are basically my polar opposite.” I draw small shapes on his leg with my finger, my face blisteringly hot.

“Normally.” I hear and my hand stops moving.

“Did I say normally?” I choke.

“You did.” I can see a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. He looks so good in the light of the street lamps. I’m tempted to hold his hand but that would require him to stop playing with my hair.

“Sorry.” I say after a while.

“No, it’s okay, Jess.” He brushes his hand over my cheek as he goes back to the side of my head, “It was sweet in a weird way.” 

“Okay, good.” I tighten my hand around his knee for a second, “I really like you, Nick.” I hum, “You’re really cool.” 

A yawn passes my lips once more.

“I like you too, Jess.”

I don’t think that either of knew what kind of ‘ _ like _ ’ we were talking about.

|||

I'm awake when we pull up to Nick’s house. He has his hand rested on my leg, his thumb rubbing circles calmingly on my thigh. 

“Jess, my family is really… Somethin’.” Nick starts, “They'll probably scare you a bit but I just have to warn you because I really like ya’ and don't want you running off.” 

“Nothing can scare me off. You're stuck with me now, Miller.” I elbow his side playfully.

“Good. There's some shit I've got up my sleeve and now I know you won’t run.” He jokes and I roll my eyes.

“Oh, hush.” I unbuckle and lean into the back, pulling the blanket from the three in the back, “Wake up! We’re at Nick’s!” I shake Cece and Winston’s legs.

“Shut up.” Grumbles Cece.

“Fine, sit out here and rot.” I slide out of the car and follow Nick to the trunk and grab my stuff.

Winston stumbles around after a moment and grabs his. Schmidt and Cece are still passed out in the back seat. All of us are so exhausted, I could sleep forever.

|||

Cece and I are stuck in the guest room, Schmidt, Winston and Nick are in his former bedroom. The bed wasn’t as soft as I had imagined it to be. Right now, I could sleep anywhere though.

I had just dozed off when the bed dipped and I awoke.

“Cece.” I hear and sit up.

“Schmidt! Go sleep in  _ your _ room.” I huff, “You are not fucking my best friend in the same room as me.” I glare and he rolls his eyes at me.

“Why don’t you go join Nick? Winston is staying with Jamie.” Schmidt tells me. Jamie was weird and I was slightly worried about Winston, though, Jamie was only 16 so there shouldn’t be that much of an issue.

“Fine.” I groan and grab my bags, heading two doors down the hall into Nick’s bedroom. He’s asleep and I don’t want to wake him, deciding to just sleep on the floor.

I drop my bags gently to the floor in the corner of the room, trying not to make a sound. I stumble and slam into the dresser, a cologne bottle tips over and thankfully is safe.

“Schmidt?” Nick hums, “Don’t touch my shit, dude.”

“It’s just me.” I reply.

“Jess?” He sits up, his hair matted to his forehead, “What are you doing?”

“Schmidt and Cece are fucking.” I sigh, “I tried not to wake you, you can go back to sleep and I’m gonna set up a bed on the floor.” I speak.

“Hey, no, you’re sleeping in my bed, I’ll sleep on the floor.” Nick insists and I feel myself tense.

“Nick, I can’t take your bed.” I shake my head at him.

“Then you can join me in it.” He slides over to the left and pats the now empty space on the right, his bed was very small, “Not trying to sound crazy or anything, I just know that you need rest and won’t take my bed.”

“I-... Um… Okay.” I hesitantly slide into the empty space next to him.

“If this makes you uncomfortable, let me know.” His arm goes under my head and shifts under my shoulder. I roll onto my side to face him and make probably the boldest decision I’ve ever made.

My head goes to his chest and my arm drapes over him, “Is… Is this okay?” I manage to ask. My throat was so tight.

“Yeah.” I hear him hum comfortably, he starts to play with my hair slightly as he dozes off. His heart is racing and so is mine.

My eyes wander up and I watch him. His eyes are closed and flicker slightly, his head is tipped slightly my way, his mouth is parted slightly as he breathes shallow breaths. The scruff on his cheeks looks so smooth and his pale skin makes the small beard around his mouth pop. His lips are pale too, they look like a tanned version of the rest of his skin. He had long eyelashes that weaved together perfectly. His nose had a little bump in the middle. I notice a few acne scars on his forehead.

Nick’s hair looks lighter when the sun hit it but now it looked so deep and rich like his eyes. It was laid awkwardly on his head and the sides needed a shave, small wisps of hair lay over the tops of his ears.

He’s so handsome. Attractive.

Nick Miller was very attractive.

I pull his blankets up around us until they rest just below my nose. I grab onto his shirt and hold it in my hand as I feel my eyes get too heavy to keep open

|||

Waking up, I was warm. Nick’s arms held me safely to him and I slumped against him.

“You’re awake.” He says softly into my hair, “Did you sleep well?” I can hear that he was still half-asleep.

“Mmm.” I croak and push my face against him.

“I agree.” He laughs softly and I feel it rumble in his chest, “You hungry?” 

“Little.” I murmur and hug my other arm around him so he doesn’t get up.

“My mom will make us something if you want.” Nick smiles and pushes some hair out of my face.

“No, warm.” I squeeze my arms around his middle, “Stay here.”

“Okay.” He looks down at me, wrapped around him.

“Is this weird?” I ask after a few moments of comfortable silence.

“What weird?” He hums and I feel his fingers twirling my hair against my back.

“This.” I mumble, “What we're doing?” I look up at him, “I mean, we just met and aren't dating but we're sleeping in the same bed and touching and everything.” 

“Do you not like this?” His brow furrows and his forehead crinkles. 

“No, no. I really like it but, is it wrong?” I can’t help but to ask. 

“Why would it be wrong? We’re just friends doing some super good friend-stuff.”

“I guess that makes sense.” I nod, “I’m hungry, can your mom make us food even though she hates me?” I ask and he chuckles.

“Of course, let’s go.”

|||

It was noon and the festival started. We’d been here since seven and somehow I wasn’t exhausted. I was front row for Fall Out Boy and they had been amazing, some band called The White Noise was up next and I decided to just stay where I was and watch them.

“Hey! There you are.” Nick slides up to me, his arm bumping mine. 

“Hey, having fun?” I grin.

“Hell yes, this place is crazy.” Nick laughs and leans against the barrier as people started pushing in around us, “Who’s up?”

“The White Noise.”

“Oh, they’re really heavy. You like them?” He asks and I give a shrug.

“Never heard them. I don’t have any bands up for about an hour or so, so, why not watch these guys?” I smile at him.

“Okay, cool, I’ll watch them with you.”

The band comes out moments later and the crowd is instantly crazy, starting to mosh during the first song. Nick gets shoved back and yet, somehow I don’t.

He was right behind me but, some guy gets between us, he’s acting really fucking intense and weird. I can tell that Nick doesn’t like him. He tries to start a mosh up near the stage and is slamming me against the barrier.

“Hey, girly!” He grabs my waist and slams me against him, “You are gorgeous!” He reeks of alcohol.

I squirm in his arms until I manage to turn myself to face him. I try and shove him off but that obviously doesn’t work. 

I get panicked and slam a balled hand to his fist and he lets go, only to grasp my hands. I rip one away and he grabs my breast. 

I raise a hand and smack him as hard as I could while I was being slammed into.

He doesn’t like that and he balls a hand and hits me.

Nick sees this and doesn’t like it. I watch as Nick grabs a him by the shirt and pull him back, yelling something at him. The guy gets aggressive with Nick and starts to swing at him. He manages to get Nick a couple times from what I saw but soon Nick gets a good shot in. 

I don’t even realize what’s happening after that until this drunk guy is on top of Nick and is definitely trying to choke him. 

I grab the guy by the shirt to stop him and two other guys near me pull him off of Nick, who promptly tries to get in another hit.

I catch him and drag him from the pit.

“Are you okay? Holy shit, Jess, your face.” He runs a hand under my swelling eye.

“I’m fine, oh my god, Nick, thank you.” My arms go around his neck, my face pressing into his shoulder. I was actually petrified back there and Nick made it okay, “Let’s get you some ice from the medic tent.” I pull away and look at his face. His lip was busted and bleeding down his chin, his left eye was swollen and there was a cut on his cheekbone from a ring on the guy's hand. He had a gash above his right eye through his eyebrow and down over his eyelid. His right hand was also blown up like a balloon and turning deeper purple by the second. There was also purple and blue marks forming on his neck.

“Only if you get some too for that bruise.” He brushes his fingers over it again.

“Deal.”

|||

“Your hand looks awful.” I frown as I play with his bruised fingers, “Do you think anything’s broken?”

“I won’t be able to tell until the adrenaline rush dies.” He chuckles and squeezes my hand in his, “My fucking lip hurts like a bitch and the cut keeps opening when I talk.”

“Poor, Nicky.” I run a thumb over the mark on his mouth.

“I know, right?” He moves the ice from his knuckles up to his left eye, “This eye hurts really bad too.” 

I smile, “I’m sorry, Nick. Thank you so much.” I take the ice and hold it for him.

“You don’t need to thank me.” He raises his brow a bit, “It was fucked up of him to even attempt to touch you and I’m really sorry I didn’t notice anything sooner.” He touches the bruise under my eye for the hundredth time.

“Seriously, Nick, it’s  _ fine _ .” I chuckle, pulling the ice back to look at his eye.

“Go have fun, Jess.” He gives a crooked smile, “You shouldn’t be stuck here with me while you could be watching performances and fucking band members.” He half-jokes.

“No, it’s my fault you’re hurt so I’ll stay with you.” I grin and he gives one back. His mouth starts to bleed again, “Hold still.” I reach into my bag and grab a tissue to dab the blood away from his lip with.

“You don’t have to do all of this for me.” Nick shakes his head.

“I want to.” I pull the tissue away and stick it in Nick’s pocket. He laughs at me.

My head falls to his shoulder and he grins, leaning his head against the top of mine.

“Let’s go have some fun.”

|||

Nick’s still having a great time even with all the bruises all over him. Some band he liked called Chapel was playing and he had me come with him. He gushed about their songs for about half an hour before their set and it was cute. He really did like this band.

They play a song called Cindy White first and they’re actually  _ really  _ good. Nick and I dance to the songs like idiots, We’ve Got Soul and Miss Monogamy were the second and third song and then there was Caught Up. 

The songs were great.

The last song was my favorite.

Don’t You Love Me was the name of it and it was perfect.

I danced to this one with Nick a little closer this time

_ I hope I’m figured out by the time I’m thirty, _

_ I’m tired of waking up to ramen in the early, _

_ Forever seems lonely without you, _

Nick smiles at me and grabs one of my hands to have me dance with him in a way. It was just a terrible twisting of limbs.

_ I hate the way it feels, _

_ Can we go back, _

_ To the taste of something real, _

_ Can you show me that, _

_ I will always wait for you, _

Nick mumbles these words as he pulls me closer to him, our bodies are loose and awkward but I laugh and don’t care who sees us.

_ Ooh, I think I’m in love with you, _

_ It’s true, I can’t get enough of you, _

_ Don’t you love me too, _

And Nick yanks me against him and holds his arms around my waist as he hums along, dancing along with me in his arms. 

He looked so handsome and the song became background noise to me. His head bobs side to side along with the music and he’s moving against me and I think I’m moving with him. I grip the back of his shirt and lean into him.

He’s so warm all the time. It’s so comfortable.

I feel him touching my lower back with one and and his swollen one pushes my hair out of my eyes, running through it all the way to the tips.

“Nick.” My voice falls flat under the sound of the booming music.

I hear the music dying down in the background.

_ Don’t you love me too, _

And then the beat slowly falls. Nick’s hand slides over my cheek and his fingers lace my hair, his palm cupping my face as the song comes to a close. 

I watch his eyes, they flicker over my own, trailing to my lips and back to my eyes. He moves forward and stops for a second, seeing if I was going to run. Our eyes lock for only a second. 

They flutter close and he presses his lips to mine.

He’s aggressive, but in the best way. Hungry and craving. He wants this.

Nick’s mouth moves over mine and his head turns from one side to the other, his hands trailing me over and gripping me tighter to keep me close.

I don’t want to be any farther from him, I want to be closer.

My hand balls around his ratty old tank-top, fingers clasped into his hair and pulling it desperately.

He pulls away and looks me in the eyes for a moment, leaning down and giving me a gentle kiss, his lips breaking away and returning once more for a mere second.

It felt like the universe fell around us and I could see through time and space for only an instant.

“Wow.” I breathe.

“I wanted to do this for so long.” He tells me and his lip is bleeding again, “Your mouth tastes like cherries and Monster.” He gives a reeling smile that just turns the edges of his mouth and a breath that was almost a laugh slips out, “I never would have expected something like that.”

|||

I fell asleep on Nick’s leg in the car again as he drove us home. This time he didn’t wake me up, he just carried me inside and placed me in his bed.

When I do awake, it’s close to midnight and I’m cold. I’m freezing.

I slip out of the bed and spot Nick asleep in the little seat in his bay window. I patter over to him and pull the blanket from his bed with me, covering the two of us up as I lay down with him.

“Jess?” Nick’s voice is groggy.

“You’re warm.” I cling to him.

“Hey.” He says and I glance up at him. I hum as a reply, his finger going under my chin to make me look higher up at him. His mouth goes to mine, pulling away and going back in again. This happens a couple of times before he stops completely, stroking my hair, “Go to sleep.”

“I’ll try.”

A yawn.

My eyes droop while looking up at him in the moonlight.

|||

And then it’s time to go home.

I don’t want to because I know that once we’re back, these guys that feel like my family, will leave.

“Jess.” Nick smirks as I slide into the front seat beside him. I give a gentle and sleepy wave.

He slides over the seat, holding himself up above me like a predator stalking its prey. He pounces and kisses me. I grab his neck without thinking and he groans in pain.

“Shit, easy there, fighter.” He titters and moves to kiss my jawline, trailing down from there.

I push him off.

“Whoa, what’s with you?” He sits back.

“Don’t do this.” I shake my head, “Nick, I have really weird, but strong, feelings about you and I don’t want it to just be a spring break fling.”

“You think this is just a fling?”

“It feels like one.” I cross my arms over my chest.

“I really like ya’, Jess. I wouldn’t leave now. I’ve been crushing on ya’ since I first saw you.” He grabs onto my hand, “I want this. I want  _ us _ .”

“Really?”

And he kisses me.

It’s nearing the end of sophomore year of college and I have four friends. It’s just us, Nick, Cece, Winston and, I guess, Schmidt. 

My whole life had just been Cece and I.

And everything changed when a boy with a scruffy-face and wide-eyed browns knocked on my door.

Now, I’m in love with the man that came to me at three a.m. that fateful Saturday morning.

Three a.m. is the hour of lovers.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment, they make me feel happy


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